Free Everything She Wanted by Jennifer Ryan Page A

that money when all I did was defend myself against that asshole.”
    “Witnesses said you threw the first punch. Chris ended up in the hospital with a concussion, two broken ribs, a bruised spleen, and a broken cheekbone. The DAmay have plead you down to a shit misdemeanor with a suspended sentence thanks to your father’s lawyers and influence, but you still needed to pay for your crimes. Daddy paid for you, but he’s not here to get you out of this.”
    Evan dismissed all that and demanded, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
    “I represent Kate Morrison and Alex Faraday for your father’s estate.”
    “What?” bothChristina and Evan said together.
    “Who the hell is Alex Faraday?” Evan asked, leaning forward now, his forearms planted on his knees, eyes intent on Ben.
    Ben glanced at the detective. The surprise in the detective’s eyes matched exactly how Ben felt. They didn’t know about the baby.
    “Alex Faraday is your father’s four-­month-­old son.”
    “He didn’t have a child,” Mrs. Faraday said.
    The detective took over the explanation. “Mrs. Faraday, your husband and his fiancée, Margo Dexter, were shot at her home this evening. Although the scene was set up to appear as a murder-­suicide, we have evidence that another person was in the home and committed the crime.”
    “What evidence?” Evan asked, his eyes narrowed with concern.
    They had their attention now.
    “I’m not at libertyto say. We’re still investigating. Kate Morrison is Margo’s sister. She returned to the house tonight after becoming concerned that she couldn’t reach her sister or your husband, Donald. When she checked the house, she discovered the bodies and called the police.”
    “Where is the baby now?” Mrs. Faraday asked.
    “Margo left the baby in his aunt’s care earlier today. The baby is with her,”the detective answered.
    “How can you be sure this baby is Donald’s child? I mean, he’s having an affair with some slut. She probably passed off the kid as his just to get his money.” Mrs. Faraday spat out the words like venom spilling from her lips.
    “It won’t be hard to prove with a simple DNA test,” the detective pointed out.
    “Not to worry, Mrs. Faraday, you can trust that I willmake sure Alex gets everything that’s coming to him from his father,” Ben added.
    Evan and his mother stared at each other for a long moment, broken only by the detective’s next question.
    “Where were both of you tonight from about four o’clock until we arrived?”
    Mrs. Faraday jumped. “You think we had something to do with this?”
    Ben had to give her credit. The outrage in her voicealmost sounded genuine. More than likely she resented all these tedious details that kept her from getting control of her husband’s money.
    “Standard procedure, ma’am. When someone is murdered, it’s usually the spouse who did it. Or a close family member.” The detective made a point of staring at Evan.
    “Well, look at someone else,” Mrs. Faraday snapped. “We’ve been here all night. Together.”
    The detective expected that answer. So did Ben unfortunately. Too much to hope they’d simply confess and this would all be over. He’d like to spare Kate the pain and hardship of going through all this.
    “When is the last time you saw Donald?” the detective asked both of them.
    “Today,” Mrs. Faraday confessed. “Early afternoon. He arrived with another man to serve me divorce papers.”
    Ben perked up. “He actually served you the papers today?”
    “Yes. Not that I was surprised. We’ve been living separate lives for some time even though we share a roof. Obviously, he’d decided to move on with his slut.”
    “Did you know about Margo?” the detective asked.
    “Of course I knew. A wife always knows when her husband strays.”
    “I find it very coincidental that your husbandis murdered the day he serves you with divorce papers,” Ben said.
    “Don’t you think it would be stupid of me